Italy's prime minister will quit

Sunday

Dec 9, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 9, 2012 at 3:42 PM

ROME - Prime Minister Mario Monti said he intends to resign after losing the backing of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, according to a statement issued late yesterday by the president's office.

ROME - Prime Minister Mario Monti said he intends to resign after losing the backing of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, according to a statement issued late yesterday by the president's office.

Monti said he would first try to muster the votes needed to pass a budget for 2013 but that the withdrawal of support last week by Berlusconi's People of Liberty party represented a "categorical motion of no confidence in the government," according to the statement.

Only hours earlier, Berlusconi said he was ready to run for office again, promising to bring the change Italy needed.

During a two-hour meeting yesterday evening, Monti told President Giorgio Napolitano that he would make an effort in Parliament to pass the budget and a financial stability law to try to defer "the consequences of a government crisis" before handing in his "irrevocable resignation," the statement said.

A year ago, Monti was asked to form a government after the resignation of Berlusconi, who left office amid personal and political turmoil. With Italy on the brink of financial dissolution, Monti's government of technocrats proposed a series of structural changes to put the country on a more fiscally responsible path.

Though some measures have fallen short of that aim, and have largely failed to stimulate economic growth, Monti has been widely credited with bolstering Italy's standing with global financial markets.

As the European Union pressed Italy to enact changes to lower its public debt and streamline its pension system and costly labor market, Monti counted on multiparty support for his policies. Last week, however, Berlusconi's party distanced itself from the government's economic policies.

Berlusconi, 76, who dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades, said his party had been unable to find a credible successor, and so the task of commanding the party had once again fallen to him.

"To win, you need an acknowledged leader," he said. "It's not as though we didn't look for this leader, we did, and how, but there isn't one, and so …," he said, his voice trailing off before he laughed.

Though he is unlikely to win an election, Berlusconi still could get enough votes to hold some sway in Parliament.